Sorry if this is a stupid question…

A couple of days ago we had a bag of kiln-dried hardwood delivered.

While I was at work yesterday, the lovely wife and kids unloaded the bag into the log store.

Ive just noticed that a hell of a lot of the logs are damp to touch and moldy. Reading about 25-35% on the damp meter thingy.

Is this normal? Our log burner is new and we have only had one previous delivery from a different supplier and they seemed drier / cleaner.

Thing is I dont want moldy logs in the living room with kids about.

Should I complain to supplier or am I being picky?

Kiln dried and kept in a field?

You can get fungus and mould during slow drying in a shed, generally in the middle of a stack. This will still be visible once dry.

They definitely shouldn’t feel wet.

You could question the supplier, but this is what they have. Guessing they were cheaper? Need to attract new customers because they can’t keep them?

Buying kiln dried logs is pointless.

Split them and then test them again

The kiln drying bit is irrelevant if it’s been allowed to get wet again which it clearly has. If it’s got mold and/or fungus growing it’s been exposed to moisture for a period of months. A pile of freshly chopped and stacked wood I store in the open is beginning to show signs after a year. The moisture readings you’ve taken speak for themselves.

Basically you’ve not got what you’ve paid for.I’d be making enquiries.

You’ve been had.

Don’t burn them if you value your flue or want any warmth this year, dry them and burn next year.

Oh and don’t pay a premium for kiln dried, even properly done, and then stack outside. With UK typical winter temperature and relative humidity wood equalises with its surroundings at about 19%, so your kiln dried wood reabsorbs moisture until it’s as dry, or wet, as naturally seasoned.

Wot he said. We stack our dried wood around the stove before burning it and the moisture level drops to below 8% and radial drying cracks grow bigger.